AN: I decided I needed some discipline in my life. I also decided I wanted to spend some time with Naomi and Emily.

I've read fic challenges similar to this before. So I thought it may be fun. It was fun. It was difficult, too. Part of me hated it. I do nothing well under pressure, so it was a real challenge.

These were my self-imposed guidelines: Put my 110 Tegan and Sara songs on shuffle. (I assumed using one band may be smarter than using my entire iTunes library, but am now unsure.) Write a drabble, anything at all that the song inspired, while it was playing. Move onto the next one the second the song changed. Write the first thing that comes to mind that makes even a little bit of sense. (Note: I allowed myself some very limited editing after the tenth song so I didn't go mental.)

I wrote the title of the song that played above the drabble and the fic's title is taken from "Time Running," a T and S song.

Disclaimer: If I owned Skins, I'd think of a cooler way to spend my snow day.

"Relief Next to Me"

It was hard to be what she wanted her to be. It was hard for Naomi. She didn't do relationships.

Okay, obviously neither of them had actually done relationships before.

But Emily, she was built for it. She was made for love, for sharing, for care-giving . . .

Naomi was equipped for nothing of the sort. She'd never had the influence of an adult normal couple at home. Or of any sort of healthy couple (heterosexual or otherwise).

But she didn't need anything to go off of, she realized. Having Emily was enough. Them, together was enough.

They could be their own example, she supposed. They worked plenty well on their own.

"Fix You Up"

It was hard, being happy so often. But she was. To her core.

In fact, the bad moods usually came from Emily.

Or, rather, she should say that the moods came from Emily's mother.

Naomi hated her mother.

Naomi didn't understand how, but she always seemed to help Emily. She always seemed to make Emily feel better on days when her mum was being a bitch.

She didn't understand the logic, but she sure as hell accepted it.

Love was proving capable of so much she didn't know was possible. She didn't dare question it; love was powerful.

"Want to Be Bad"

They drank a lot. Well, considering who their friends were. But many nights one of them would stay relatively sober just to be able to "care" for the other one. It was something that happened subconsciously; neither of them realized, but both of them did it.

When it did happen that they were both totally fucked, they weren't any more attracted to each other than normal.

That comforted Emily.

It was still nice to know that terms had changed; this was not middle school, not anymore. This was real. They were together, for real; it still boggled Emily, that Naomi wasn't going anywhere, even once the alcohol wore off.

But it was nice to know.

"Time Running"

"I'm so fucking sick of Bristol."

"Isn't that my line?" Naomi wondered.

Emily laughed, shrugged, kissed her shoulder.

Naomi ran her finger down Emily's arm. "Where do you want to go? We can go anywhere after school."

"We?" she was checking. She just wanted to be sure. It was a reflex.

Naomi gave one small, affirmative nod. "Together. Let's go."

"Where Does the Good Go"

She had no idea how she fucked everything up so badly. No idea. All she knew was that Katie was disappointed in her. Katie, of all fucking people!

"What the fuck did you do?" she demanded, over the phone. "You fucking broke my sister's heart, you cow!"

"I . . ." didn't, she wanted to say. She didn't say. She knew it'd be a lie.

She hadn't meant to.

She just . . . she got fucking scared. Ems had gotten carried away, she'd gotten carried away, too, talking about getting married and having kids together, and, can't you see it, Naoms?

The problem was how fucking easily she could. She could see it.

It was terrifying.

"I just . . . tell her I'm coming over, Katie. Tell her I'm sorry for being a twat and I'm coming over. I'm fixing it, alright?"

She could face her fears. She wasn't afraid of anything with Emily.

"Come On Kids"

That party in middle school had been so lame. She knew they'd claimed to be on MDMA, but there was certainly no MDMA at that party.

That thirteen-year-old's party.

Ha!

And Katie'd thought it been oh-so-cool.

It was pathetic, looking back on it.

Naomi and Emily laughed about it now. Emily admitted to thinking at the time that it had been the wildest party she'd ever hope to see at the same time Naomi said she'd been forced to come and hated every second of it (well, except for about thirty of them, when their lips had been attached).

Mostly, it had been hell.

A very . . . lame hell.

Thomas facilitated much better parties these days.

"City Girl"

Naomi was not a crier, generally.

But when she was, she was also a screamer, and a thrower, and a completely fucking crazy psycho. The usually composed girl was a mess when overwhelmed with all those pesky emotions and annoyances.

Emily could deal with it, most of the time, unless she knew she was the cause. Then, her guilt made her useless.

But they always got through whatever was going on. Naomi's craziness was rare and always subsided eventually.

Emily was never once scared away by her, though, when she was going through shit. Not once. She always stayed by her, even when Naomi would've preferred she didn't, because that was who she was.

Naomi loved who she was. She was grateful for exactly who she was.

"Night Watch"

Naomi didn't talk about her father much.

Well, what was there to talk about, right? She didn't know the bloke.

She knew he was a prick. She knew she didn't want to know him.

She also knew he made up fifty percent of her.

That was hard to deal with, even if she didn't put much stock in genetics. She was worried, somewhere, deep down about what she could do one day. To a family, and to Emily.

When she even thought about vocalizing a bit of this fear, Emily would look at her in a way that assured her, forever, she was better. Just, better.

Naomi fucking Campbell was better.

"Soil, Soil"

They just needed each other.

Sometimes Emily knew she was acting like a dweeb; she was aware. But she didn't care. She texted Naomi constantly; she was always telling her she loved her. But it didn't actually annoy Naomi at all.

So she didn't fret over it.

"Someday"

The wait had been frustrating, and it had taken a toll on Emily. It'd been hard, spending so much energy, years' worth of energy, just pining for Naomi.

But it had been worth it. She didn't have to remind herself of that fact; it was so much a part of who she was.

And she wouldn't change a thing. She loved the way things were.

The way things were still fucking astounded her. She couldn't imagine things being any other way, though, not now.

Everything they'd been through had turned out so much better than any of her fantasies. She was so glad she'd given Naomi the chance to make her dreams come true.

AN: Why do people read drabbles, anyway? Hahhaha. I feel like this may be a gross misuse of my beloved fanfiction account, but I've always wanted to try one of these super fun challenge deals. Sorry if you feel I've wasted your time. (And I know that whole factor where this is chock-full of American colloquialism is probably distracting. If I would have had more than three minutes for each one, I would have paid so much more attention than I did.)

You can still totally review. I'd love to hear from you.

And, hey, anyone whose time I just wasted: who is terrified/crazy excited for Emily's episode next week?